Punitive award after clergy abuse verdict ‘could put us out of business,’ Delbarton says
MORRISTOWN − Facing potentially devastating punitive damages in the wake of a landmark $5 million compensatory verdict for a former student who said he was sexually abused by a monk at the Delbarton School, the headmaster of the exclusive boys’ prep school testified that another large monetary award “could put us out of business.”
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The Rev. Michael Tidd’s testimony came on Oct. 14 at the start of the punitive hearing phase of a civil trial pitting a 1977 Delbarton graduate against the school, the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey that oversees the monastery and school, and the Rev. Richard Lott, a former OSBNJ monk.
All of the defendants denied any wrongdoing. But last week, a six-person jury unanimously found the student’s accusations to be true and that the abuse caused him lifelong trauma. They also agreed with the defense argument that the OSBNJ was not negligent for what happened “through the lens of 1976,” when such abuse was thought to be rare and no policies were in place to deal with it.
Punitive award after clergy abuse verdict ‘could put us out of business,’ Delbarton says
Nevertheless, the jury awarded the now 65-year-old student – identified in court only as “T.M.” – $5 million in compensatory damages, with Lott liable for 35% of the amount and the OSBNJ 65% liable. Any award over $500 requires a compensatory hearing, in this case before the same jury.
Representing the defense, OSBNJ general counsel Kurt Krauss leaned on the jury’s denial of the negligence claim, telling them that a punitive award was not required. He also reminded them that punitive damages “require a higher standard of proof” than their original verdict required. Without “clear and convincing evidence” of “evil-minded acts” or “reckless disregard for the consequences,” punitive damages were not appropriate, Krauss argued.
T.M.’s trial attorney, Michael Geibelson, called witnesses whose testimony underscored the lack of oversight and policies to punish offenders or limit the contact between students and accused sex abusers for decades beyond 1977, when T.M. first reported the abuse by Lott.
T.M. testified that he wrote a letter to Abbot Brian Clarke, leader of the OSBNJ community at the time, detailing the abuse after graduating in 1977. Meeting with Clarke to discuss the letter, he testified that Clarke said Lott admitted the abuse and “he would take care of it.” But Clarke later testified in a 2019 deposition that Lott denied the abuse, tying his hands in terms of discipline.
First on the stand for the punitive hearing was Abbot Jonathan Licari, who has served as the temporary administrator of the OSBNJ since 2022. He confirmed policies are now in place to protect students from sex abuse that were not followed during a documented period from 1973 to 1978.
The jury also saw edited video of multiple depositions by Lori Albanese, a Delbarton case worker assigned in 2018 to provide liaison between accusers, school officials and a victim’s advocate. Albanese confirmed the OSBNJ’s lack of oversight in the area of clergy sex abuse in greater detail, testifying that the order did not establish policies to deal with sexual abuse until 2002, and they were not implemented until 2004.
She also testified that the order was always obliged to follow Canon law, which established policies for investigating such allegations as far back as 1917.
Geibelson also grilled Licari and Tibb about a letter they signed and sent to the Delbarton community “six hours after the verdict.” That letter questioned both the jury verdict and the compensatory award.
“The communities of St. Mary’s Abbey and Delbarton School have genuine compassion for any victim of abuse,” the statement reads. “However, we do not believe that the damages awarded in this case are either fair or reasonable, and our legal representatives are considering all legal options.”
“The incident in question in this trial occurred fifty years ago, when modern safeguards did not exist at secular or religious schools or other youth-serving institutions. That fact cannot be an excuse, but it is a truth that must be reflected in the verdict,” the statement said.
Geibelson also asked Tidd about continuing to refer to T.M.’s abuse as “an alleged incident.”
“Reasonable people can reasonably disagree,” Tidd said about the verdict. “Our position all along is that it didn’t happen.”
Tidd also testified to the financial assets of Delbarton and the OSBNJ, including its sprawling 187-acre campus, 120 acres of which are not taxable. The prestigious school, which continues to attract top scholastic athletes and sons of well-heeled parents, charges an annual tuition of $48,000
Delbarton maintains a healthy enrollment of 644 boys from 120 towns and 12 counties in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, according to its website.
$164 million in assets
On the stand, Tidd confirmed audits showing total net assets for the OSBNJ rose from $7.4 million in 1976 to $127 million in 2021 and $156.3 million in 2024. An unaudited estimate of net assets to date is $164.3 million.
Tidd, however, said most of that was tied up in property, buildings and other physical assets that did not represent “liquid” cash available.
“We don’t have a pot of money sitting around,” he said.
Asked if they could sell the campus to raise the money, Tidd replied, “We could, but we would go out of business.”
Tidd did say they could pay their share of the compensatory award without impacting operations at the school or monastery. But a large monetary award for punitive damages, he repeated, “Could put us out of business,” or, at a minimum, affect future operations, including financial aid to needy students.
High stakes for future victims
The landmark trial is significant as the first of hundreds of civil sexual abuse cases against the Catholic Church to reach a jury in New Jersey. It’s also the first trial among more than three dozen abuse suits against the prestigious school.
A law in New Jersey, signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2019, extended the state’s statute of limitations and offered those who said they were victims of child sexual abuse the ability to sue alleged abusers until age 55, or within seven years of their realization that the violations caused them harm.
That law opened the door for countless former Delbarton students and people throughout the state to revisit their cases and consider litigation.
The $5 million compensatory verdict alone “should send a powerful message to all institutions that they must take allegations seriously,” said Mark Crawford, the New Jersey director for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “Survivors should not be afraid to stand up and tell your truth, because justice will prevail.”
October 15, 2025
William Westhoven
Morristown Daily Record
